1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector having a terminal fitting covered with an outer covering and to be connected to equipment such as an inverter equipment for an automobile.
2. Description of the Related Art
In connecting a connector of a power circuit elongating from an inverter equipment disposed in an engine compartment of an electric vehicle to a motor for a wheel, it is often that a sufficient wiring space cannot be ensured in the vicinity of the motor. Therefore, in such cases, an electric wire drawn out from the connector must be bent substantially perpendicularly so as to be laid along an outer face of the motor.
However, an electric wire to be used in a power circuit is hardly laid in a state where the wire is bent in a desired curvature, because, as compared with that to be used in a signal circuit, a conductor and an insulation cover have a larger diameter, and the flexural rigidity and the restoring force against flexural deformation are higher.
As a technique of laterally bending an electric wire elongating from a back face of a connector housing, known is that in which a wire cover is put on a back face of a connector housing, and a wire that is laterally bent inside the wire cover is sideward led out from the wire cover (see JP-UM-A-5-069868). However, this technique in which a wire cover is used is applicable to an electric wire which is to be used in a signal circuit or the like, and which has a relatively low flexural rigidity, and is therefore hardly applied to a power wire having a high flexural rigidity.
A structure may be employed in which an electric wire elongating from a connector housing is not bent to be laid, and a terminal fitting connected to the wire is bent so that the connector has a shape bent into an L-shape as a whole. FIG. 6 shows an example of the structure. In a connector 100, a terminal fitting 101 is surrounded by an outer covering 102 which is formed by resin molding. The terminal fitting 101 has: an open-barrel shaped wire cramping portion 103; and a horizontal terminal 104 which is directed perpendicularly to the wire cramping portion 103, and which is to be connected to a terminal of equipment (not shown). The wire cramping portion 103 and a basal end portion of the terminal 104 are surrounded by the L-shaped outer covering 102, and a tip end portion of the terminal 104 horizontally protrudes from the outer covering 102 so as to be connected to the terminal of the equipment disposed inside a case of the equipment. The wire cramping portion 103 elongates along the outer wall of the case, and an electric wire 105 cramped to the wire cramping portion 103 is downward laid along the outer wall of the case.
When the connector 100 having a shape bent into an L-shape as described above is to be molded, the terminal fitting 101 of an L-shape is set in a mold, and a molding resin material is injected into the mold to mold the outer covering 102. At this time, when the injection pressure from the upper side of FIG. 6 acts on the terminal 104, there is the possibility that a bent portion 106 is downward displaced by the injection pressure while being deformed as shown in FIG. 7. In the case where the terminal fitting 101 is deformed in this way, there arises the other possibility that a part (the portion corresponding to the bent portion 106) of the terminal fitting is exposed from the outer face (the lower face in FIG. 7) of the outer covering 102.
In a structure in which also the wire cramping portion 103 is to be set in the mold, particularly, the injection pressure acts on the end face of the wire 105 to displace the wire 105 and the wire cramping portion 103 in the axial direction (the downward direction in FIG. 7). This positional displacement causes the bent portion 106 to be further deformed.
In order to prevent the deformation of the terminal fitting 101 due to the injection pressure from occurring, a technique to set the injection pressure to a low level may be employed. However, when the injection pressure is lowered, the pressure applied in the injection may become uneven, and causes a result that the surface of the outer covering 102 is roughened, and that the mechanical strength of the outer covering 102 is reduced. Therefore, it is not preferable to set the injection pressure to a low level.